Northwest firm Brabners Chaffe Street has taken on solicitor and non-practising barrister Maria Deus as a solicitor in the firm's construction department. Deus spent two years with construction consultants James R Knowles before joining Brabners. "As a dedicated team we can provide a full range of contractual and planning advice. With the current boom in property development in the region there is a strong demand from both developers and contractors for specialist legal advisers," said head of the unit, Daniel Brawn.